Snakes on a Plane: the movie the Internet made. It doesn’t matter how good or bad this film actually is, it's still gone down as a cult film along with Tremors and Critters, although compared to those two, it's popularity has waned rather significantly over the years. At the time of release, this film was a cult smash before anybody even saw it. All it took was the news that Samuel L. Jackson was doing a film called Snakes on a Plane and the Internet went mad. Before New Line had got the marketing in place there were a load of fan-made posters doing the rounds, helping the film's reputation grow over the months before its release.Originally conceived as a rather milder affair, after the massive amount of interest, the makers even went back and filmed extra scenes, adding more gore, more sex and more quotable dialogue for Jackson. In fact, you spend most of the film waiting for it, and when he finally shouts: “I’ve had it with these motherfuckin’ snakes on this motherfuckin’ plane!” you really feel like cheering.

Hero pose #16.

Jackson is dependable throughout, buying into the concept wholeheartedly - in fact, were it not for his interest from the start, it probably wouldn't have got made. It's a little more polished than you might expect from a film called Snakes on a Plane, and it's clear New Line were willing to spend some extra money on it with a readymade audience built in and apparently gagging for it. While it didn't do as well as hoped (Jackson once referred to the possibility of making a sequel, which he called "More motherfuckin' snakes, on more motherfuckin' planes!" - alas, it was not to be), I find it encouraging that a studio was willing to both spend extra money and up the certificate when the interest is there. It was quite fun, and diverting for a while, but the novelty wears off before it can build up the momentum required to sustain a schlocky franchise.The plot? Well, there are these snakes, right, and they’re on this plane…Score: 5/10It's surprisingly well-reviewed out there - have a look at this review from Dana at Slate or this 10-years-later retrospective from Sarah at Den of Geek.

The Big Lebowski is possibly my favourite Coen brothers film (although Fargo and O Brother, Where Art Thou? do give it a run for its money). From the opening frame until the credits roll it is a joy to watch. The Dude (Jeff Bridges) is a spaced out bum and Walter (John Goodman) is ‘an asshole’, as the Dude reminds him on occasion. Along with Donnie (Steve Buscemi), Dude and Walter spend their days bowling and talking about nothing very much. That is until Dude gets a visit from a couple of thugs (Philip Moon and Mark Pellegrino) trying to recover money owed by, apparently, Dude's wife. The misunderstanding comes from the fact that The Dude's real surname is 'Lebowski', which is something he has in common with a very different Lebowski (David Huddleston), the 'Big Lebowski' of the title. It is the Big Lebowski's wife Bunny (Tara Reid) whom owes the money. When they realise their mistake, the two thugs leave, but not before one of them pisses on The Dude's rug, which he then spends the rest of the film trying to get compensated/replaced.The plot is complex, filled with twists and turns, but it is also completely irrelevant. The Dude and Walter will always manage to make it more complex than it is. When Dude gets roped into to a plan to rescue the kidnapped Bunny, the throwaway comment that she probably kidnapped herself leads them down a path of bizarre assumptions and uniquely odd characters. This film is gold not because of its plot, but because of the interactions between The Dude and Walter and the ridiculous situations they find themselves in. In particular, I love the way the Dude will repeat words spoken to him back as a question – "coitus?" in a forever dazed and confused state. The story doesn't really start out that complicated, but when these two have finished with it, it feels mind-bendingly complex.

The supporting cast are as weird a menagerie as you might imagine - likable "Shut the fuck up" Donnie, artistic oddball Maude Lebowski (Julianne Moore), bowling rival Jesus – not that one (John Tuturro), uptight assistant to The Big Lebowski Brandt (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and even Bunny Lebowski herself for the short time she's on screen as well as a slew of others, the Coens and their actors turn potentially forgettable and obnoxious characters into works of comedy art.

So long, Donnie.

The writing is sublime, tying the paths of the characters together in knots, stringing Dude and Walter along with it. In particular, there are two rather throwaway moments (although, as mentioned, most of the plot is made up of moments that feel rather throwaway) that I adore, being The Stranger (Sam Elliott) asking the Dude if he needs to use "so many cuss words", only for the Dude to reply: “What the fuck are you talking about?” and the perfect scene where, following Donnie's unfortunate demise, Walter releases his ashes on the top of a windy cliff (not a good idea). This moment is both hilarious and surprisingly moving as the two friends grieve for their lost buddy in their own odd way.I don't think it's too much to sum up by saying The Big Lebowski is pretty simply comedy genius through and through.Score: 9/10The vast majority of reviews out there as full of praise as I am - Roger Ebert's review was just one example. More interesting however, is this review from Todd at Variety, which I think defines the phrase 'missing the point' more perfectly than anything I've ever seen.

The original announcement around the adaptation of The Hobbit, produced by the team behind the wildly successfulLord of the Rings trilogy, but directed by Gullermo Del Toro, was met with great rejoicing. What might the amazing mind of Del Toro come up with when let loose in Tolkien's universe? Unfortunately, it was not to be. Contract-wrangling led to delays and Del Toro had to move on to other commitments, whereupon Peter Jackson took up the reigns. There will always be a part of me that regrets never getting to see the Del Toro version, but Jackson's no slouch.Lord of the Rings came under some criticism from Tolkien purists for making some changes to the novel, but even so I still think it is evident it retains a healthy respect for the original story while not being afraid to make changes if it served the film. It is, frankly, much harder to make the same assertion when talking about The Hobbit. Just the fact that it is a trilogy almost as long as the Rings trilogy (as with that review, here I am talking about the extended versions available on Blu-Ray, rather than the theatrical releases) with a book only a fraction of the size is a fairly clear indication that there are many more liberties taken with the text. Of course, all of the extra stuff is mostly informed by appendices written by Tolkien himself, but there is still plenty here to outrage the purists.

Bilbo riddles for his life, while Gollum plots murder.

Before the events told in The Lord of the Rings, when Bilbo was a young man (Martin Freeman) he was conscripted by Gandalf (Ian McKellen) into joining a group of dwarves attempting to reclaim their lost homeland from the humongous clutches of the dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch). On the way, Bilbo meets an unusual creature named Gollum (Andy Serkis) and comes into possession of a magic ring, which just so happens to change the entire course of history in the future.The first part An Unexpected Journey takes its time to get going, rather than diving headfirst into the adventure, spending time in Bag End with Bilbo and the dwarves. Much of the criticism the film faced was in regards to the slow pace set in these early scenes. For my money, I'm happy enough to spend time in the Middle Earth imagined by Jackson, Weta Workshop, Weta Digital and New Zealand that I'd probably be happy watching Bilbo wash up for 2 hours. The dwarves are realised in a way that is different to the book; rather than coloured hoods, each dwarf has a distinctive look, usually based around hair. I wasn't quite sure about it at first to be honest, but I soon got used to it.

Bilbo and Thorin, facing up to something awful.

Once we set off, there's no shortage of trolls, fights, elves and underground goblin kingdoms, but the absolute standout scene in the first film is Bilbo and Gollum facing off in a game of riddles in the dark. Serkis, following years of honing his extraordinary motion capture acting techniques is electrifying as Gollum; innocent and childlike one moment, intensely menacing the next. With all the adventuring going on it's easy to miss crediting some genuinely great acting from Freeman as well - he invests Bilbo with just the right mix of curiosity, stuck-up-ness and courage - during his battle of wits with Gollum and afterwards, explaining his decision to help the dwarves regain their home he is wonderful, and only very occasionally now reminds me of Tim from The Office. The ending of the first film somewhat mirrors that of The Fellowship of the Ring, in that there is a pitched battle between our heroes and those that seek to destroy them (but nothing compared to what is to come), and ends with the journey a long way from being completed.The Desolation of Smaug bucks the trend of the middle film of a trilogy being weaker (as did The Two Towers) and is actually my favourite of the three. There is a great deal of iconic Tolkien imagery brought to life here; Beorn (Mikael Persbrandt), Dol Guldur, Mirkwood and the spiders, Thranduil's (Lee Pace) hidden woodland realm, Laketown; for someone like me who can often feel more at home in these locations than in the real world, it's a dizzying smorgasbord of visual treats. Jackson and his team take more liberties than even An Unexpected Journey did, but somehow, the film is just so much fun that most of it goes by, forgiven. The invention of an entirely new character, the female elf Tauriel (Evangeline Lily) doesn't feel out of place - in fact it highlights how starved of female characterisation Tolkien's novel was, and goes some way to addressing that. Falling for Kili (Aidan Turner) might have been a bit of a stretch, however, and featuring Legolas (Orlando Bloom), I must admit, took some swallowing.

Bilbo may have bitten off more than he can chew...But then again, he is a hobbit.

There is a particular sequence that angered many fans of the books and that is when Bilbo and the dwarves escape from the elves by hiding in barrels and riding down the river. It's an action-packed chase full of gags that bears no resemblance to the equivalent chapter in the novel. One way I can tell that movies had a bigger impact on me than books in my youth is that I genuinely love the sequence, despite the liberties it takes with Tolkien's text. Like the riddles in the dark section of An Unexpected Journey, there is a part of The Desolation of Smaug that sits above the rest of the film as a stand out sequence, and it's when we finally meet the dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch). Bilbo enters into another verbal fencing match, but unlike Gollum, he's no match for the wily wyrm. Following his failed attempt to first burgle and then charm Smaug, the dwarves and Bilbo have no choice but to play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse throughout the ruined kingdom of Erebor, ending in an enraged dragon bearing down on the human settlement of Laketown.

The Battle of the Five Armies picks up the thread and early on Laketown is laid waste by dragonfire until Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) brings the vengeful dragon low. The third film is about what happens around the power vacuum that Smaug left behind - the Kingdom under the Mountain, empty again, save for a massive pile of gold and jewels. The dwarves, led by Thorin Oakensheild (Richard Armitage), set up shop and barricade themselves inside. Thranduil leads the elves to the mountain to reclaim some long-lost elven treasure, while Bard brings the now-homeless survivors of Laketown to try to prevent them from starving. Both are rebuffed by Thorin, who is being driven slowly mad by the corrupt Arkenstone, a giant gem from the heart of the mountain that inflicts a dragonish greed on its possessor.

A redeemed Thorin bids his friend farewell.

Thorin's back-up arrives in the shape of an army of dwarves from the Iron Hills led by Thorin's cousin Dain (Billy Connelly). Just as the elves and dwarfs start tearing shreds off each other, a giant army of orcs show up, led by the major antagonist across all three films, Azog (Manu Bennett) - this is another fairly major change from the source material, as Azog is long-dead during these events in Tolkien's timeline. If there is one thing the original Rings trilogy taught us, it's that Peter Jackson knows his way around a battle, and the titular fight here is every bit as amazing, outrageous and epic in scale as you could hope for. Given the time he was denied in the high-pressured run-up to the film's cinematic release, the battle in the extended version is bigger, more graphic and chock-full of imaginative set-pieces.The over-use of CGI is much-bemoaned in regards to modern films, and there is no doubt The Hobbit is bursting at the seams with digital artwork, but the way in which Jackson employs it makes it much less of an issue that it might otherwise have been. Across the whole trilogy, from An Unexpected Journey's escape from the underground goblin town, through the barrel ride and dragon hide-and-seek in The Desolation of Smaug, through to pretty much most of The Battle of the Five Armies, the film-maker is clearly the same guy who made Braindead, Bad Taste and Meet the Feebles (he is still working with some of the same people, even now). The same manic energy, gift for a surprising-yet-perfect angle and warped sense of humour is still there; he's just using different tools.One of the most beautiful shots in the series, including Rings, is the brief, dialogue-free moment near the end, featuring Bilbo and Gandalf just sitting there, together alone. The sense of exhaustion is palpable, and one can only surmise is shared by Jackson and his crew. The effort that has gone into making these six films is momentous; decades of work, so this small moment feels appropriate, a short snippet of reflection. Like so many moments in these films, it is a strikingly constructed shot despite being so simple - a testament to the great work of the late Andrew Lesnie, cinematographer on all six films.

Bilbo and Gandalf: Palpable exhaustion.

The Hobbit is a lesser trilogy than the preceding Rings, but considering the source material, this was inevitable. It holds the novel on which it is based in perhaps slightly less esteem, but is made with an abundance of talent and is actually quite a lot more fun than Rings. If the novel isn't like a religious text to you, I think you could find much to like here. If it is, it's probably better you avoid.Score:The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: 8/10The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: 9/10The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies: 8/10As with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, I seem fairly close to Empire's take on the films, as shown in these reviews by William, Nick and James. Elsewhere, there is evidence to suggest I slightly over-rate them, although not by much if these Guardian reviews by Philip, Peter and, to a lesser degree, Mark are anything to go by.

Flushed Away was Aardman Animation’s first step into the competitive world of CG, and unfortunately, it shows a little. Aardman brought us the likes of the Wallace and Gromit shorts, full-length feature Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Chicken Run, which are all great and brimming with imaginative stories and characters, and on that front, Flushed Away is no different. Teaming up with DreamWorks Animation, they go to great lengths to retain the Aardman aesthetic. The creation of a city in the sewers of London populated by rats, toads and slugs is fabulous, and it’s brimming over with hilarious characters, invention and wit.

Roddy St. James (Hugh Jackman, doing a note-perfect Hugh Grant-type) is a pampered pet rat in a Kensington house. While his owners are away Roddy has the run of the house, busy enjoying himself while trying to distract from the obvious loneliness, when another rat makes his way up from the sewer. The home invader goes by the name of Sid (Shane Richie), and Sid thinks he's hit the jackpot and decides to move in. While trying in vain to convince Sid the toilet is a Jacuzzi, Roddy finds himself flushed from his cosy home into the depths of the London sewer system, where he finds a bustling 'ratropolis', mirroring the city above.While attempting to get home, Roddy crosses paths with Rita (Kate Winslet) and soon gets swept up with her ongoing spat with the villainous Toad (Ian McKellen, the comedic highlight) and his plan to wash away the makeshift city and make a home for him and his tadpole offspring. There follows a fine yarn with much comedy, both pun-based and slapstick, as well as some joyfully funny action set pieces.

Toad fancies himself a bit of a Shakespearean villain.

The sticking point is the quality of the animation itself; it’s just not a patch on the beautiful CG stylings of Pixar, DreamWorks, or even Blue Sky Studios (the animation house producing content for 20th Century Fox). The characters don’t move fluidly, and when they speak it’s almost like a stop-motion technique. It’s likely that the makers did this to make it look like the Aardman output we all know and love, but it just doesn’t retain the charm of genuine stop-motion. If you're going to move onto CG, then commit to it. A shame, because the delightful story certainly deserved more.

Based on Neil Gaiman's novel / graphic novel, Stardust at first glance could be easy to write off as a Lord of the Rings/ Harry Potter fantasy adaptation bandwagon jumper. In fact, it’s significantly different to both, being more whimsical and funnier. The English village of Wall appears to be your average rural village in the middle of nowhere. But the wall the village is named after hides a secret behind its ordinary-looking stone. It serves as a barrier / gateway to Stormhold, a fantastical kingdom not found on any map, filled with magic, witches, sky pirates and murderous princes. A young man named Dunstan Thorne (Ben Barnes) fools the elderly gatekeeper (David Kelly) and escapes for a night beyond the wall where, for want of a better phrase, he gets lucky with a beautiful woman (Kate Magowan). Some time later, a baby boy is left outside his door.When the baby has grown into a naïve young man named Tristan (Charlie Cox), to prove his love to local girl Victoria (Sienna Miller), much to the annoyance of her suitor Humphrey (Henry Cavill), he proposes to recover a fallen star and bring it back to her. This sets him on a quest which will take him over the wall, but not before his father (Nathaniel Parker) reveals to him the nature of his parentage.He's not the only one on a quest. The sons of the king (Peter O'Toole) are in a deadly race to retrieve an heirloom that will give them the kingdom, as well as trying to stay alive long enough to claim it. This soon focuses on generally honourable Primus (Jason Flemyng) and the ambitious moral-vacuum Septimus (Mark Strong). The ghosts of the deceased brothers wait and watch to see who will emerge the victor. Elsewhere a trio of ancient witches, desperate to regain their youth which, conveniently, requires the heart of a star, despatch Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer) to hunt for and retrieve said star.First on the scene is Tristan, who finds, to his great surprise, the fallen star has taken the form of a woman named Yvaine (Claire Danes), and she is non too impressed to learn of Tristan's plan to bring her back to Victoria. The stage is set for a chase across Stormhold for love, for power and for youth.

Lamia, about to get witchy.

There is much to delight here. The scenery is beautiful and beautifully shot, and the energetic score is a perfect fit for the type of fast-paced fantasy storytelling from director Matthew Vaughn on show. The characters are a major reason why this film shines so much, which is due largely to Gaiman's novel and the adaptation by Vaughn and Jane Goldman. The casting is as starry as is gets (pun intended): Michelle Pfeiffer channels a more sinister and sexier take on Bette Midlers' witch in Hocus Pocus, Robert de Niro is surprisingly funny and obviously having a ball as Captain Shakespeare, a camp skyship captain with a ruthless reputation to uphold. The scene featuring the crew of Shakespeare's airship fighting is filmed as though it is a dance and is an absolute ball. Ricky Gervais' Ferdy the Fence lets the side down a bit, as he basically plays to type, but he’s still pretty funny.The absolute star, both literally and figuratively however, is the magnificent Claire Danes as the fallen star with a bad attitude. She is marvellous and in the later scenes when she’s falling for Tristan and beginning to shine you are utterly convinced that she is being completely bowled over by love. Her smile is infectious.The climax takes place in the witches' palatial home, as all the players left in the game converge and struggle for supremacy. Septimus comes off poorly here, and I suspect Vaughn was really pushing the limits of the PG certificate, as he gets a really rather grim death scene. It's probably not much of a spoiler to confirm that love prevails, but there is an interesting decision to make the ending different to the rather melancholy ending to the source material. This is a prime example for me of where sometimes when adapting books into films it is sometimes advisable to make changes. Gaiman's ending is bittersweet and suits the tone of his story perfectly, while the movie benefits massively from the decision to lighten the end. Both endings fit their particular medium, and either would have been made lesser if they'd had the other one.Much better than you may have been led to believe.Score: 8/10It would seem that I'm out here pretty much alone in my high opinion of Stardust, the general consensus being generally more middling like these reviews from Roger Ebert and Dan at Empire.

Despite its failings, Cronos has its fair share of beautifully-framed shots.

Being the debut work of director Guillermo Del Toro, Cronos makes interesting viewing as it allows you to see a man of astonishing talent developing his craft. While overall it’s not up there with his later high-water marks, it isn't without moments of greatness.

In the 1500s, an alchemist (Mario Iván Martinez) creates a mysterious device that bestows eternal life on the person it attaches itself to, but the price to pay is a craving for blood. This is a pretty cool take on the vampire movie, and when we find out that the alchemist is still alive in the present day (that is, until his building collapses on him, staking him through the heart), we get some idea of the power of this device. It finds its way in to the hands of elderly antiques dealer Jesus Gris (Frederico Luppi) who lives with his granddaughter Aurora (Tamara Shanath).

Jesus finds it harder and harder to resist.

A dying millionaire De la Guardia (Claudio Brook) learns of the device and what it can do and sends his nephew Angel (Ron Perlman) to retrieve it. That's the basic set up, but Cronos is more concerned with the idea of immortality and the affect it has on the human psyche. It does fall short of its lofty premise, relying too much on B-movie horror effects in the final third, which is at odds with the stylistic approach that the first half of the film took.

Del Toro's stamp is all over it, despite it being his debut, and while it doesn't quite work, it's interesting to see flashes of the astonishing director he'd become, and it contains striking imagery, for example one scene at night where Jesus is struck by a raging thirst and is crouched in front of a blue refrigerator light gulping water, while almost all around him is pitch black, and, perhaps even more striking, bright red blood on the floor of a gleaming bathroom.

There is a school of thought that says to be a genius at anything requires mere practice. 10,000 hours of relentless, focused practice. Not having spent that long doing anything, and not being a genius, I'm not really in any position to comment, but I would have thought that a natural aptitude for whatever it is you're practising is probably required as well. Whiplash is a story of Andrew (Miles Teller), a young jazz drummer at the Schaffer Conservatory of Music, a music school in New York for the very best up-and-comers. Andrew has both a natural aptitude for drumming and the determined will to work at it until he's one of the greats.Andrew gets the attention of Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), who picks him for the school's jazz band. Fletcher is a monster, relentless in his pressure to push his students to greatness, belittling then for even the smallest mistakes - he is genuinely outraged when the music isn't completely flawless. Simmons skirts the edges of caricature, but never crosses over, becoming instead a towering presence, terrifyingly single-minded in his attempts to mould greatness.Andrew is determined enough to respond to Fletcher's goading and pushes himself harder and harder. Neither of these two characters are particularly likable - Andrew sees everything other than practise as an unwelcome distraction, from girlfriend Nicole (Melissa Benoist) to dinner guests, whom he sees as mediocre nobodies to regard with only contempt. It's when these two are together, Andrew behind the drum kit, Fletcher ready to vent his spleen at any imperfection, that Whiplash is truly terrific. The tension between them, winding higher and higher, makes for glorious viewing.

Just the end of another day of practice.

The two of them clash against yet feed off each other, Andrew slowly making his way to his goal of being world class, but it doesn't (can't) last. Desperately rushing to get to a performance in a hire car, Andrew gets into an accident. Dazed and bleeding, he insists on playing. When he can't, the tension finally boils over, leading Andrew to attack Fletcher, causing the end of his studies.

After the air has cleared, following Fletcher losing his job due to his abusive teaching methods, the two appear to be on slightly better terms, but it just sets the scene for the blistering finale. Fletcher, guessing correctly the Andrew had testified against him, sets him up to destroy any hope of a career, but it is here you finally begin to route for Andrew. Refusing to let his tormentor/mentor get the better of him, the performance at the climax focuses on just the two of them, ignoring almost everything else, including a packed concert hall, becoming as intimate as a sex scene. Teller is utterly convincing in his performance, appearing to play the drums as well as anyone in the world, and Simmons, conducting with a rapturous intensity, conveys everything with his eyes - beaten in this game of one-upmanship, he is nevertheless delighted by the extraordinary talent his excessive methods have produced.

The film doesn't appear to judge Fletcher's methods; it leaves it for you to decide if it was worth it, but there is no doubt in the minds of both Andrew and Fletcher - it was worth every last drop of blood.